Sanjay Dutt Worried About Toilets, Mosquitoes In Jail

'How will I survive without fans, pillows and mosquito repellents in jail?'

Unlike several of his movies, there has never been a dull moment in Sanjay Dutt's life.

Like the rest of it, even the day before his three-year jail term started, was marked by events that threatened to veer into high melodrama. It began with Inspector General (prisons) Vinod Lokhande disclosing that Arthur Rod jail authorities had received an anonymous letter stating that the film star would be killed if he were to be lodged at Arthur Road. The threat may prove superfluous as only undertrials are housed at Arthur Road. Dutt, convicted under the Arms Act, is likely be taken to Yerwada at Pune.

By afternoon, a morcha under the banner of Hindu Rashtra Sena was outside his home, Imperial Heights, at Pali Hill, Bandra, demanding the star be hanged for his anti-national activities. Their sloganeering turned out to be as jarring but mercifully shorter than the over-loud background music in most of the star's recent movies.

His staff had covered the gates to his house in opaque green cloth to keep out the prying media but information trickled out thanks to the constant comings and goings of Dutt's colleagues, hangers-on, doctors and relatives. Speaking to them we were able to piece together a troubling portrait of a fragile man. The star who has been drug-free for decades and overcome his heavy alcoholism has taken to finishing a bottle of vodka a day, revealed a source close to him.

'How will I survive without fans, pillows and mosquito repellents?'

"Baba is unable to sleep without it. He wouldn't listen to anyone, including Manyata advising him against it. And when he is not drinking, he is smoking," said the friend who did not wish to be quoted on record. "For weeks now he has been drinking to crash out." He has also been getting crying jags and has been particularly inconsolable around his twins, aged two and a half.

To whosoever has been to visit the star, he has one thing to say: "How will I survive without fans, pillows and mosquito repellents? I had none of these when I was last jailed in 1993 but don't forget I was 33 then. I am a 53-year-old man now." Recalling the rough quality of the standard issue blanket, he told friends he was unsure he'd survive the next three and a half years of jail life. Dutt who only recently returned to India after expensive hair and cosmetic surgery is most dreading the filthy Indian-style toilets in the jail, which he last shared with eight other prisoners.

On a happier note, the star's daughter from his first marriage, Trishala, has reconciled with his current wife Manyata and it was these two ladies in his life who convinced him to file a review petition in the Supreme Court which was subsequently rejected, paving the way for him to serve the rest of his jail term.

Had Dutt surrendered on April 18, he would have lost at least Rs 10 crore. "No filmmaker gives an actor his full fee until he has completed his obligation to the film in all respects," said a friend. In the last one month the actor has completed his work on pending projects like Policegiri, Zanjeer, PK and Ungli.